Outlook for biogas and biomethane
Prospects for organic growth
World Energy Outlook Special Report
Table of contents |
|
Key findings................................................................................................................................................................................................................... |
4 |
An introduction to biogas and biomethane ................................................................................................................................................................... |
12 |
Sustainable supply potential and costs ........................................................................................................................................................................ |
24 |
Biogas supply potential and costs............................................................................................................................................................................. |
26 |
Biomethane supply potential and costs..................................................................................................................................................................... |
34 |
The outlook for biogas and biomethane to 2040 .......................................................................................................................................................... |
40 |
Outlook for biogas..................................................................................................................................................................................................... |
45 |
Focus: The role of biogas as a clean cooking fuel .................................................................................................................................................... |
51 |
Outlook for biomethane............................................................................................................................................................................................. |
57 |
Focus: Biomethane and the future of gas infrastructure ........................................................................................................................................... |
63 |
Implications for policy makers and industry.................................................................................................................................................................. |
69 |
Investment ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ |
70 |
Energy security ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... |
74 |
Reductions in CO2 and methane............................................................................................................................................................................... |
77 |
Considerations for policy makers .............................................................................................................................................................................. |
82 |
Annex........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... |
87 |
2 | Outlook for biogas and biomethane | IEA 2020. All rights reserved
Introduction
The case for biogas and biomethane lies at the intersection of two critical challenges of modern life: dealing with the increasing amount of organic waste that is produced by modern societies and economies, and the imperative to reduce global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
By turning organic waste into a renewable energy resource, the production of biogas or biomethane offers a window onto a world in which resources are continuously used and reused, and one in which rising demand for energy services can be met while also delivering wider environmental benefits.
In assessing the prospects for “organic growth” of biogas and biomethane, this new report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) explores how big a role these gases can play in the transformation of the global energy system, where the opportunities and potential pitfalls lie, and what policy makers and industry can do to support sustainable growth in this sector.
The answers to these questions rest on a major new IEA analysis of the sustainable potential for biogas and biomethane supply, including a detailed assessment of feedstock availability and production costs across all regions of the world.
This provides a platform to explore the various services that biogas and biomethane can provide in different countries, which vary widely depending on circumstances and policy priorities. Biogas can be a valuable local source of power and heat, as well as a clean cooking fuel to displace reliance on the traditional use of solid biomass in many developing countries. There are also potential co-benefits in terms of agricultural productivity (as a result of using the residual “digestate” from biodigesters as a fertiliser) and reducing deforestation.
3 | Outlook for biogas and biomethane | IEA 2020. All rights reserved
When upgraded, biomethane (also known as renewable natural gas) is indistinguishable from natural gas and so can be transported and used in the same way. Biomethane can deliver the energy system benefits of natural gas while being carbon-neutral.
The value of biogas and biomethane is heightened in scenarios such as the IEA Sustainable Development Scenario (SDS), which meet in full the world’s goals to tackle climate change, improve air quality and provide access to modern energy. Projections from the SDS provide an essential benchmark for much of the discussion in this report.
Biogas and biomethane have the potential to support all aspects of the SDS, which charts a path fully consistent with the Paris Agreement by holding the rise in global temperatures to “well below 2°C … and pursuing efforts to limit [it] to 1.5°C”, and meets objectives related to universal energy access and cleaner air.
The other scenario referenced in the analysis is the Stated Policies
Scenario (STEPS), which provides an indication of where today’s policy ambitions and plans, including national policy announcements and pledges, would lead the energy sector.
Comparison between the outcomes in these two scenarios provides an indication of the range of possible futures that are open to biogas and biomethane, and the policy and technology levers that will affect which pathway they ultimately follow.